Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami II on tap for UFC 155 in Las Vegas

Six years ago, Yushin Okami (27-7 MMA, 11-4 UFC) and Alan Belcher (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) welcomed each other to the octagon, and at UFC 155, they’ll check in again.

The middleweight bout was recently added to the UFC’s year-end card, which takes place Dec. 29 in Las Vegas at a venue to be determined and airs live on pay-per-view.

UFC officials today announced the matchup.

Belcher was originally scheduled to meet Vitor Belfort at UFC 153 on Oct. 11, but Belfort was re-booked to challenge light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones at UFC 152 on Sept. 22.

Okami used his grappling skills to outpoint Belcher in their first meeting, which took place at UFC 62 in August 2006. He would win three more before being stopped by ex-champ Rich Frankline in a title eliminator at UFC 72.

Belcher went on to win his next octagon bout with a highlight-reel KO over Jorge Santiago, but he would continue to struggle against grapplers, losing by submission to Kendall Grove in a subsequent outing.

Over the years, however, Belcher has rounded out his game. In May, he put to rest doubts of his ability to hang on the mat when he escaped the vicious submission skills of Rousimar Palhares at UFC on FOX 3 and went on to earn a first-round TKO.

Okami, meanwhile, has stalled near the top of the division. He went 6-1 following the setback to Franklin and earned a title shot against champ Anderson Silva. But his title hopes were dashed when he suffered a second-round TKO, and another setback against Tim Boetsch devalued his stock.

Okami recently rebounded with a third-round TKO over Buddy Roberts at UFC 150.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?